Imperial 30 Years Old 1990 Cask #1051 (Elixir)

Imperial closed in 1998 after a century of sporadic production and was taken down in 2013 to make way for Dalmunach, so its whisky now comes only from a closed distillery. This single cask was filled in 1990 and bottled by Elixir Distillers at 30 years old, for its The Single Malts of Scotland range. Single cask number 1051 yielded 144 bottles, released for Germany.

The distillery's large stills gave a clean spirit rich in esters, floral and faintly waxy, typical of Speyside before its closure. This bottling matured in ex-Bourbon American oak. Across 30 years, the toasted staves released vanillin, which reads as vanilla, and oak lactones, which carry coconut, while the cask char filtered heavier sulphur notes from the spirit.

Bottled at 44.5%, the ex-Bourbon wood supplies furfural for toasted almond, eugenol for clove and warm spice, and maltol for a soft toffee sweetness. Recorded bottle notes run to fresh orchard fruit, honey, dried fruit, an oily texture, a cooked vegetable note and vanilla. The long maturation draws tannins from the oak, drying the finish into clean wood.